The_Admiral Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 http://www.echl.com/...&cat=1&id=22275For those who keep track of these things, the Chicago Hounds of the U-Haul played a season in Hoffman Estates, which I guess went about as poorly as any season can go. They cancelled the home opener because the ice hadn't frozen all the way yet, and then the Sears Centre made them play mostly on weeknights because they wanted the Fridays and Saturdays for Carrie Underwood concerts and stuff, and the whole thing never really worked out. That entire Poplar Creek area has never really worked out: the Sears Centre also had an indoor lacrosse team that went belly-up, the state is going to have to finish paying for the arena with money it doesn't have, and it's across the street from a big upscale mall that nobody really goes to.If I had to guess, the obvious purpose of this ECHL team would be to consolidate the Blackhawks' farm system, moving the ECHL affiliation from the Toledo team they sacrilegiously share with the Red Wings. Hoffman Estates is just about equidistant to Rockford and Chicago, so everyone involved with the organization would now be able to easily oversee all levels of development. Shuffling players will be a breeze, and selling the team as tomorrow's potential Blackhawks today should manage to drum up more interest than your average ECHL team. And if the worst should happen out in Rockford and the entire city finally self-destructs beyond repair, it should be fairly easy to evict the ECHL team and slide your AHL team into Hoffman. I feel a lot of ECHL affiliates go underused relative to AA baseball, probably in part due to location. Maybe more teams will fully exploit their developmental systems if it's this convenient to do so, and the ECHL can sell a better hockey product. So yeah, this could be marginally promising, as long we don't find out the team will be owned by Hockey Movie Star Emilio Estevez with help from his good friend Rich Ehrenreich. EDIT: oh it's actually owned by the same guy who owns the Rockford IceHogs, so it probably is a contingency plan for Rockford being too poor to sustain the AHL. ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvrdgsfn Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 *still waits for Richmond to get a team*Oh well, looking at the E's map this could benefit Michigan & Toledo to getting a close rival, plus this could help the Blackhawks with an E affiliate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 there gonna need that echl team because thats all they can afford to call up with their CAP HELL!!!!*points and laughs**adjusts spreadsheet**watches favorite team lose in the first round every year* ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I could see an eventual swap, with Rockford going down to the CHL and giving the fans the multiple-fights-a-night brand of hockey they got used to the the U-Haul, plus a travel partner in Quad City. Then Hoffman Estates would get the AHL club, meaning that they and the Wolves could probably travel to each other's games via Pace bus.This is all contingent on Hoffman Estates being able to draw more than 500 paying butts in seats per game, which I'm not sure is entirely possible. On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said: For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA. PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 there gonna need that echl team because thats all they can afford to call up with their CAP HELL!!!!*points and laughs**adjusts spreadsheet**watches favorite team lose in the first round every year*So there's hope the Blues will be playoff regulars?----------------------------------------------------Having an ECHL team in Chicago also makes it easier for the ECHL to pick off Quad Cities or (stupidly) return to Peoria if the Blues pull the plug there. On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said: You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now. On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said: Today, we are all otaku. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010 The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rvrdgsfn Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 EDIT:Made another post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Admiral Posted June 26, 2010 Author Share Posted June 26, 2010 I could see an eventual swap, with Rockford going down to the CHL and giving the fans the multiple-fights-a-night brand of hockey they got used to the the U-Haul, plus a travel partner in Quad City. Then Hoffman Estates would get the AHL club, meaning that they and the Wolves could probably travel to each other's games via Pace bus.This makes even more sense than having the ECHL team between the AHL and NHL teams. Good observation.This is all contingent on Hoffman Estates being able to draw more than 500 paying butts in seats per game, which I'm not sure is entirely possible.If marketed and operated properly, I really don't see why they shouldn't succeed in either the ECHL or AHL. They'll be smack-dab in the middle of a big chunk of white middle-class suburbs. They will, of course, have to compete with the Wolves just down the road in the "Hockey as Affordable Family Entertainment" category, and the on-ice product won't be as good as the Wolves', so that could hurt them at either level, but I think there should be enough money and population base to make it work. Besides, how much can it cost to run an ECHL team?I wonder what's the location name for this team is going to be. The trend with the numerous minor league baseball teams in the area is to name them for their respective suburbs or counties (Schaumburg, Gary, Joliet, Kane County, McHenry County [soon], Lake County [snort]), but Cook County isn't specific and the northwest suburbs don't even want to be in Cook County anyway. Hoffman Estates has too many wispy fricatives and sibilants to make for a good hockey name. If you brand a H.E. team as Schaumburg, the city council will flip its :censored:. Poplar Creek has a nice ring to it, nice plosives, but I don't know if anyone still refers to the Sears Centre's general area as "y'know like around Poplar Creek" anymore. Please welcome your Northwest Tollway Blackhawks? ♫ oh yeah, board goes on, long after the thrill of postin' is gone ♫ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Please welcome your Northwest Tollway Blackhawks?We call it the Jane Addams Tollway now, good sir.</traffic snobbery> On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said: For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA. PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rams80 Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 The not-Chicago Blackhawks? On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said: You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now. On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said: Today, we are all otaku. "The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010 The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 The technically almost but likely never will be Chicago Blackhawks.Or, go the Stars' route, and make them the "Illinois Blackhawks". On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said: For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA. PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee. Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Due to circumstances beyond the team's control, they will be playing the month of October at Carthage College. Welcome to DrunjFlix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viper Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Followers of the National Lacrosse League will, of course, recall Sears Center as the former home of the late, unlamented Chicago Shamrox, who lasted only a couple of seasons in the place. Between them and the Hounds, that building doesn't exactly have a sizzling track record of housing prosperous sports franchises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sodboy13 Posted June 28, 2010 Share Posted June 28, 2010 Somehow, the Chicago Slaughter are remaining in business, though, so good for them.And really, whatever leases are being offered at Sears Center must be thoroughly out of line. I can think of no other reason why the WNBA's Chicago Sky would move out of the UIC Pavilion into the 18,000-seat Allstate Arena instead of the far more suitable Sears Center. (Actually, considering they couldn't really fill the 6,000-seat Pavilion, I'm not quite sure why they moved out of it in the first place, but that's something to ponder for another time.) On 1/25/2013 at 1:53 PM, 'Atom said: For all the bird de lis haters I think the bird de lis isnt supposed to be a pelican and a fleur de lis I think its just a fleur de lis with a pelicans head. Thats what it looks like to me. Also the flair around the tip of the beak is just flair that fleur de lis have sometimes source I am from NOLA. PotD: 10/19/07, 08/25/08, 07/22/10, 08/13/10, 04/15/11, 05/19/11, 01/02/12, and 01/05/12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tannerman Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Somehow, the Chicago Slaughter are remaining in business, though, so good for them.Barely. They couldn't bring in the crowds during the AFL off-year when most of the Rush played on their team, this year was questionable as well. Olympic Broadcaster Logos - BevReview.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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